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No major worries for Hodgson

England boss Roy Hodgson has no injury concerns ahead of Friday's friendly clash with Peru, although full-back Luke Shaw is a doubt due to a cold.

The Three Lions face the Peruvians at Wembley in the first of three fixtures they will contest as part of their preparation for the World Cup.

And Hodgson said at his pre-match press conference on Thursday: "We have no injury concerns, although unfortunately yesterday Luke Shaw developed a slight cold.

"We are very cautious, so he travelled down separately and didn't train today.

"I couldn't tell you at this moment in time if he will recover for tomorrow, but it is a very minor issue that will quickly go over.

"Whether it will go over in time for him to take part tomorrow, I won't know until tomorrow morning."

After this game, England fly to the United States to take on Ecuador and Honduras before their World Cup campaign begins with a clash against Italy on June 14.

Hodgson admits his focus on things further ahead means the Peru game "seems to have come out of nowhere".

Even so, he insists he is still very much unsure about what his starting line-up will be for the Italy match, and also stressed England will be taking the Peru encounter seriously.

Asked how near he was to knowing his first XI for the Italy match, Hodgson said: "Not that near, simply because the performances of the players in training have been so good and there are so many that are obviously keen to stake their claim that I have to admit it is not going to be an easy choice - that is how it should be and how I expect it to be.

"Of course, there are a number of senior players who will undoubtedly feature, but there are a lot of positions around those senior players that are up for grabs and at the moment everyone is doing their best to grab them."

He added: "I would defy anyone to second-guess my first XI at the moment."

On the Peru match, he said: "This game is a little bit strange.

"We have done so much focusing on so many things we wanted to establish for when we go to Miami next week and the real countdown for our matches in Brazil begins, that this game suddenly seems to have come out of nowhere.

"When you are normally with England, you spend all of your time preparing for the opponent, you talk a lot about them and how you are going to play against them.

"I must admit that on this occasion our work has been much more focused on June 14, but it is a game we are looking forward to and certainly one we are going to take very seriously. We are desperate to leave England having left behind a good impression for our fans."

Hodgson was unwilling to disclose his selection for the Peru match, having not yet informed his players.

Former England midfielder Paul Scholes, meanwhile, has had his say on who should be in the team for the Italy match, expressing his hope the Three Lions will have a similar attacking style to Liverpool's and suggesting four if not all five Reds players in Hodgson's squad should start on June 14.

Asked what he thought about such talk, Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard said at the press conference: "I think that would be quite disrespectful to the other top players and the other top clubs that are all collected together in this squad.

"But it does make me feel proud and happy that opinions about the Liverpool team and the players I am playing alongside are very good and very positive.

"That is something that we as a club can build on next season, but what people need to understand is that this is England - a group of players being selected from throughout the Premier League, and we are going to be playing Roy Hodgson's way and the England way. Hopefully that is a successful way."

Hodgson, who was appointed to the England job just prior to Euro 2012, admits this is the biggest moment of his career and has stressed he will be making "no excuses" about how it pans out.

He said: "Going to the Euros was previously the biggest moment of my career. Now the World Cup, I suppose you'd have to say, tops the Euros, although they are both fantastic tournaments.

"I feel, going into this tournament, very much more at home in the role and very much more aware of what's needed and what I hope I can bring and certainly what the players can bring.

"It is something we are looking forward to enormously and we are determined not to let the opportunity slip by without grasping it and making sure we have an effect upon the tournament.

"I didn't qualify the team for 2012 - Fabio Capello did. A lot has gone on since then and I've had a lot more chance to assess players.

"I've had two years, this is the squad I've chosen, it is one I'm very pleased with and you certainly won't hear any excuses from Steven or myself if anything untoward happens, because we believe we are in the right pace and are the right people to do it."

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